On Saturday September 8th I finally did a photography ‘portfolio review’ at the MEDIUM photography festival in San Diego. MEDIUM is a new festival and this was their first year. The festival was well-organized and efficiently run and although I only participated in the portfolio review, the overall experience was positive.
Perhaps I’d been a little too cynical about this but having low-to-no expectations meant my expectations were easily exceeded. Everyone was friendly and cordial and no one was overtly negative.
I met with two museum curators, one gallerist and one graphic designer. The graphic designer was someone who was not on my list and I don’t know why they assigned me the guy. I even told him when I sat down that I “didn’t have anything relevant to show, and if he wanted, we could just blow off the meeting” but he was interested in my works and we ended up having a very nice conversation. When he said, “I need to find a client so I can use you” that was an honest compliment and I’m glad I kept the meeting.
I’d been assigned the graphic designer instead the gallerist I’d wanted to see. The gallerist I didn’t meet was one of the people doing reviews at the MOPLA festival earlier in the year. I’d sent a digital press kit to this gallerist after being rejected by MOPLA. I don’t know if this person was avoiding me or if there was an actual scheduling conflict. One seldom finds out just how these decisions are made. But, as it turned out, the meeting with the graphic designer was positive.
One of the museum curators did fit my expectation of not knowing just how to relate to my work and not being able to explain exactly why. She was nice, but not especially enthusiastic about my artworks. I suspect my works were just too outside her ‘comfort zone.’ She didn’t really have much information to offer.
The other curator was a person I’d been trying to meet for over a year. I’m glad I finally got to meet her. Again, like the other curator, she was more interested in ‘traditional, straight photography’ but she was engaged with the work. She noticed the subtle humor that infuses my work and appreciated it. She also provided some ‘outside the box’ information. She told me that the museums and high-end galleries don’t really have an appreciation for humor and tend to reject it. That was new and interesting news for me and is very useful. She also provided good contact information for other alternative exhibition venues. All in all it was a good meeting.
The gallerist I met was also positive and, although my work wasn’t right for her gallery (which is typical) she also provided a lot of good alternatives. She responded especially positively to my new works-in-progress, Quantum Realism, and wants to see more in the future. This is good!
So, all in all, it was a good experience. Here are some of the things I learned:
· It occurs to me that there are some times in one’s career that are better than others to have your work reviewed. I probably waited too long to do this. At this point in my career (35 years, so far) I know who I am and am comfortable with my own works. I’m not ‘seeking’ and I’m not going to change what I do at this point in my life. My work reflects who I am and I cannot be someone other than me. I also think that having your work reviewed too early in one’s career isn’t especially beneficial as the ‘experts’ information might be confusing to a young artist. It seems to me that the best time for a review is early/mid career. Too soon and you risk being overwhelmed, too late and the information you receive has diminishing returns. Work for a decade, get yourself somewhat established and then go for a portfolio review.
· I asked all four reviewers if my work ‘is photography.’ The graphic designer said he didn’t care; the work was cool, which is how I like people to respond! The other three declared my work as ‘definitely photography.’ I still disagree but it looks like ‘the system’ wants to put me in the ‘photography-box’ anyway. I suspect there are a couple of reasons for this. One is this was a photography review so all the reviewers are naturally inclined to view things in photographic terms. When I mentioned influences from outside the photography medium they were out of their element. This speaks to the insular and self-referencing nature of photography that I’ve written about before. The other reason I’m lumped-in with photography is because ‘digital’ is closely tied to photography and it’s such a new medium that doesn’t have its own history and therefore is more easily considered to be ‘photography.’ I mentioned to one curator that I felt that ‘photography’ is a term that is descriptive and the viewer has a certain expectation. My works violate one’s expectation of what a photograph is supposed to look like and my use of the term ‘photo-digital’ is more honest. She seemed to ‘get’ where I was coming from, but still said my works were ‘photographs.’ I’d like to discuss this in a more in-depth context with other ‘experts’ because it’s them and not me that will determine future definitions of what’s a photograph and what’s ‘digital art.’ I still think ‘digital’ will eventually be declared a separate medium and I still don’t consider myself a ‘photographer’ any more.
· I told the gallerist: “I want to work with galleries that are as enthusiastic about selling art as I am creating it.” She got that. I suspect the gallerists that do these portfolio reviews are more serious than the ones who don’t. That means these are the folks you want to exhibit your works.
· Having a lot of shows is good. Having shows in prestigious galleries are even better. Apparently I’m at a point where it’s more important where I show than if I show. The cliché it’s who you know remains true. I guess now I’ve got to figure out who’s important and convince them to exhibit my works.
· One portfolio review session is probably enough, unless you want to meet someone specific.
OK, now I’ve done it and got it out of my system. I don’t think I need to do another one. These things are supposed to be good for ‘networking,’ something that never seems to work for me. I intend to follow-up with all four reviewers but I don’t expect anything beyond. Maybe it’ll be different this time (like I said last time).
The only “Wow” I got came from another photographer.
September 10, 2012
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